Duke University allows Muslim ‘Azan’ for Friday prayer

M. Akhtar, Ph.D.

DURHAM, N.C. — Tuesday,January 13,2015.School officials said. A weekly call-Azan, to prayer for Muslims, will be heard at Duke University starting Friday, Duke Muslim Students Association will chant the call- Azan, from the Duke Chapel bell tower each Friday at 1 p.m, it.will last about three minutes. Duke University is to be commended in initiating these nobleundertakings. only in a handful of American communities, the practice of Azan is known in that framework. “This opportunity represents a larger commitment to religious pluralism that is at the heart of Duke’s mission,” said Christy Lohr Sapp, the chapel’s associate dean for religious life. “It connects the university to national trends in religious accommodation.”. Muslim community at Duke was quite excitedabout it. The Imam, Muslim chaplain at Duke rightly exclaimed “The collective Muslim community is truly grateful and excited about Duke’s intentionality toward religious and cultural diversity.”

The announcement by Duke did not go unnoticed by the national power house- Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association He took to social media on Wednesday-January 14, to express his views and urge Duke donors to suspend support.. “Duke is promoting this in the name of religious pluralism. I call on the donors and alumni to withhold their support from Duke until this policy is reversed,” he said on his Facebook page.

Within 2 weeks, came the final statement from Duke university.The call made by Graham impacted the Duke alumni and they pressured their university to change the policy or —?.Even though, Duke had the tradition of being an outstanding Christian institution with the history of standing up to the ideals of religious pluralism, it succumbed to the power of negativism. It rescinded its decision.The official reason they cancelled the Adhaan was a “credible and serious security threat.”The exact nature, magnitude or even the source of the threat